1. Technical Field
Generally, the invention relates to a communications enabled-energy information system and sub-measurement board for use therewith. Particularly, the invention relates to an energy information system having a sub-measurement board which measures power consumption of individual circuits of a customer""s distribution load panel and which is capable of providing cumulative periodic consumption data of the customer""s other metered utilities. Specifically, the invention relates to an energy information system which transmits load profile data of individual electric circuits back to the energy information service provider for processing into a format which is accessible by the energy information service provider for internal use and accessible by the customer for monitoring energy usage of specific circuit loads such as heating, air-conditioning, lighting, etc, and which can provide the customer with cumulative periodic consumption data of all the customer""s metered utilities such as electric, gas and water.
2. Background Information
Typically utility companies send their customers a single invoice for total utility usage for a monthly period. However, customers may wish to receive more detailed utility data which would allow the customer to monitor specific circuits or areas of utility consumption. By providing a more detailed utility usage report, the energy information service provider can assist the customer in more fully understanding the customer""s energy consumption patterns and ways to change these patterns to reduce utility usage and the monthly costs thereof.
If the customer has access to energy consumption information for specific circuits, such as the circuit providing energy to heating, air-conditioning, lighting, etc., the customer can work with the energy information service provider in analyzing this usage data. For example, by analyzing this consumption data, the customer may discover that a particular piece of equipment is inefficient and using an excessive amount of energy. The customer may wish to replace that equipment with a newer, more energy efficient unit. Also, the customer may discover that the energy consumption of other equipment could be minimized to reduce the number of hours the equipment runs thus decreasing energy consumption by the equipment and the energy costs thereof.
Additionally, if the customer can monitor the cumulative usage of all of his or her utilities for a given period, the customer may discover that he or she is using an excessive amount of water, gas or electric during a given month. The customer can look at this cumulative periodic consumption data and make an effort to reduce the usage for the remainder of the month to prevent the water, gas or electric bill from being too high.
Several sub-metering boards have been developed which monitor energy usage of specific circuits. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,591,988 discloses an energy cost allocation method and system which receives information from individual apartments and forwards the information to a main computer. The main computer provides an output display which displays the individual power usage or requirement. The computer is attached to a phone line which transmits the information to a central computer for billing purposes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,675,828 discloses an energy cost allocation system for allocating energy use among a plurality of heat exchange terminals. A single system provides a cyclic polling of each monitor unit at a corresponding unique address with each monitor providing to the control a signal indicative of the operation of the driving unit. The control calculates the energy cost per unit time for each monitored unit based on the operating time and speed of each motor.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,804,957 discloses a utility meter and submetering system which provides multiple meters multiplexed through a data collection computer which, in turn, is networked with other data collection computers to a central billing computer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,404,136 discloses a method and apparatus for monitoring the consumption of utilities in business premises. A central computer receives consumption data from individual notional zones, each of which includes a utility load and a meter to record consumption within the zone. The computer calculates the total utility consumption with the zones of a group and supplies control data to the zones for controlling utility consumption. A single loss monitoring device records the total losses which occur between a point and the utility loads and the zones. The loss monitoring device transfers this information to the computer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,491,473 discloses a system for remote data collecting, method implemented in this system and data collector device. The remote data collection relates specifically to energy consumption for supply sites and demand sites management. The device provides a plurality of local collection sites as well as a data acquisition site positioned adjacent to each data collection sites. Data acquisitions sites are attached to one another via a local network and each local network is then connected to a central site via a second wide area network. The central collection site compromises central monitoring and processing devices for retrieving and transmitting data.
Although these devices and methods are adequate for the purposes for which they are intended, these inventions do not disclose an energy information system and sub-measurement board for use therewith which monitors and provides information about individual circuits of a customer""s distribution load panel and which is capable of providing cumulative periodic consumption data of all of the customer""s metered utilities.
Therefore, the need exists for an energy information system and sub-measurement board for use therewith which measures individual circuits of a customer""s distribution load panel, which transmits this load profile data back to the energy information service provider, which provides this information to the customer in an easily accessible and readable format, and which also provides cumulative periodic consumption data for all of the customer""s metered utilities.
Objectives of the present invention include providing an energy information system and sub-measurement board for use therewith which provides accurate energy consumption information for pro-active energy management.
A further objective is to provide a system and sub-measurement board which measures individual utility loads and posts this load profile data for access by the customer.
Another objective is to provide a system and sub-measurement board which provides this load profile data to the customer in a format which is easy to read and analyze.
A still further objective is to provide a system and sub-measurement board in which the sub-measurement board resides at the customer""s location and which transmits the load profile data back to a server or website for processing and posting thereby.
A further objective is to provide a system and sub-measurement board which utilizes circuitry and software to measure the load profile data, transmit the load profile data to the energy information service provider and post the data on a server or other type of communication device for access by the customer.
Another objective is to provide a system and sub-measurement board in which the load profile data transmitted can be used by the energy information service provider for engineering, billing, customer information systems, marketing, etc.
A further objective is to provide a system and sub-measurement board which is capable of providing cumulative periodic usage of all of the customer""s metered utilities.
Another objective is to provide a system and sub-measurement board which matches a current signal with a voltage signal of the same circuit to calculate accurate energy consumption.
A still further objective is to provide a system and sub-measurement board of simple construction, which achieves the stated objectives in a simple, effective and inexpensive manner, which solves problems and satisfies needs existing in the art.
These objectives and advantages are achieved by the energy information system and sub-measurement board for use therewith, the general nature of which may be stated as including a sub-measurement board which receives voltage and current signals representative of energy usage at the discrete location, said sub-measurement board outputs a load profile of said energy usage; a first communications network which transfers the load profile to the energy information service provider; a processor located at the energy information service provider which processes the load profile; and a second communications network which provides the customer access to the processed load profile for remote viewing of the load profile by the customer.
These objectives and advantages are further achieved by the method of the present invention, the general nature of which may be stated as including the steps of inputting a voltage signal from one of a plurality of the individual circuits of the distribution panel into a sub-measurement board; inputting a current signal from one of the plurality of individual circuits of the distribution panel into the sub-measurement board; comparing the voltage signal to the current signal to determine whether the voltage signal is connected to the same individual circuit of the distribution panel as the current signal; and calculating the energy information of the individual circuit of the distribution panel when the individual circuit of the voltage signal matches the individual circuit of the current signal.
These objectives and advantages are further achieved by the sub-measurement board of the present invention, the general nature of which may be stated as including a voltage amplifying circuit connected to a voltage terminal of the distribution panel for receiving an input voltage signal, said voltage amplifying circuit amplifies the input voltage signal and outputs an amplified voltage signal; a current amplifying circuit connected to a current terminal of the distribution panel for receiving an input current signal, said current amplifying circuit amplifies the input current signal and outputs an amplified current signal; a switching circuit connected to the current amplifying circuit for receiving the amplified current signal, said switching circuit outputs a switched amplified current signal; an analog-to-digital converter connected to the voltage amplifying circuit and the switching circuit for converting the amplified voltage signal into a digital voltage signal and for converting the switched amplified current signal to a digital current signal; a microprocessor connected to the analog-to-digital converter for receiving the digital voltage signal and the digital current signal, said microprocessor calculates the load data of individual circuits of the energy distribution panel; and an output device for outputting the calculated load data of the individual circuits of the energy distribution panel.